It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

I am the last person you will find saying anything negative about Christmas, but this there is something that annoys me every year.

Does Christmas seem to come earlier each year? Like seriously, we haven’t even celebrated Halloween and the majority of supermarkets have their Christmas isles stocked with this year’s festive food and decorations. I am by no means a scrooge; I’m quite the opposite, but please, not in September.

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I am someone who cannot get enough of the festive season, but each year I wonder what the need is for stores to start bombarding us with Christmas so early.

Christmas can be an expensive time of year, after buying gifts, food, alcohol and having maybe one too many Christmas nights out, the pennies do add up. The Bank of England suggest that the typical UK household spends over £500 more in December compared to other months. So I get why people that have to buy a lot of gifts like to be well prepared and spread the costs over a couple of months, but does seeing Christmas and Halloween displays at the same time not really irritate you?

It wasn’t until I googled ‘why do shops start displaying Christmas so early’ that I came across the term Christmas Creep. Christmas creep is more commonly used in the US to describe the way retailers introduce Christmas ads, promotions and merchandise way ahead of the traditional start of the festive shopping season. For some shoppers it works, they like to be organised and have all their gifts bought before the clocks even go back but others (like me) get irritated when we see things being displayed before Halloween. Why? Because I honestly do not see the need, it’s not like we are going to forget and I doubt stores will run out of anything two months in advance.

Getting stock on the shelves early plays a large part in companies’ strategic marketing plans. Competition is high and a lot of stores make the majority of their money for the year during the festive period so I suppose it only makes sense to try and extend that success earlier into the year when it comes to present buying but does it make sense to display festive food months in advance that expire in October? Yes Asda, I am talking about you.

I came across this tweet in September

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Asda advertising their Mince pies with the packaging reading ‘juicy raisins, festive spices and crumbly pasty…because it’s not Christmas without them’ and apparently not September without Mince Pies either, right Asda?

Maybe I am just one of the shoppers that like to leave everything to the festive season. I love seeing the Christmas lights, love buying presents and the general buzz around Christmas time. As stressful as it is, there is something oh so satisfying about rushing about supermarkets on Christmas Eve to make sure that you have everything you need for a great Christmas. So personally, getting sorted as early as October seems like it would take away from the Christmas experience. My biggest fear would be that all the things we love about Christmas will lose their novelty. Before we know it, all the festive food we love, like pigs in blankets, mince pies, selection boxes and all the rest of it will just become a normal thing for families to have year round, but it’s the small things like this that really make Christmas what it is.

I guess my point is can we just let Halloween have its moment and enjoy the festive season any time from the 1st of November.

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Rant over.

Jenna Sloan is a final year Bsc in Communication Management and Public Relations student at Ulster University. She can be found at: Twitter – jennaaaaa_ and LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-sloan-17152417b